If this is a good indication of how the mobile market is doing, the original manufacturer of laptops and handhelds for companies like HP and Toshiba reported a record volume of items shipped in September.

Compal Electronics, the second-largest notebook maker in Taiwan, achieved record monthly sales of NT$16.4 billion in September, up 31.4% month-on-month and 70.2% year-on-year, according to the company.

With increased orders from major clients like Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Toshiba, Compal shipped a record 550,000 notebooks last month, up from about 480,000 in August. Its handset shipments hit 250,000 units in September, compared to 180,000 in August, according to sources.